Crime

A girl and boy accused of murdering a Spalding school dinner lady and her 13-year-old daughter appeared at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday (July 15). The 15-year old girl and 14-year-old boy are jointly accused of murdering Elizabeth Edwards (49) and her youngest daughter Katie Edwards, whose bodies were discovered at their semi-detached home in Dawson Avenue in April. No ...

A Holbeach resident has been handed a court bill for £362.37 for not disposing of waste correctly. South Holland District Council brought the prosecution against Peter John McManamon after enforcement officers investigating a large fly-tip at Gedney Hill linked it to him. He had paid an unknown person to remove and dispose of waste items. The council said on Wednesday (July 6): “Even ...

A repeat offender off-licence in Spalding has been caught selling the type of fake cigarettes linked to fatal house fires. Police and Trading Standards officers raided Baltic in Winsover Road and seized 2,340 cigarettes. Among the haul including non-duty paid and counterfeit goods were packets of fake Pect. Cigarettes of this type have been linked to a number of house ...

A Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire has been appointed today (June 8) – despite not receiving key backing. The Lincolnshire Crime and Crime Panel acknowledged that Stuart Tweedale had many skills but it could not support his appointment because he “did not demonstrate an understanding of the principle of personal; independence required to undertake the role”. Police and ...

Lincolnshire Police has launched its summer drink and drug drive campaign. People can report a drink or drug driver using a short code SMS text service. Police said: “We will use the information to stop, arrest and process the driver through the courts. “This is only to be used for non-emergency cases. If you see a drink/drug driver actually driving, please ...

Children and staff at a village pre-school have been left devastated after a break-in. Thieves climbed in through a small window of a mobile building used by Little Stars in Surfleet and got away with two iPads used by the children and a laptop belonging to pre-school owner Bev Gromett. Just 24 hours later, thieves struck at a kids club ...

A grandfather fears his grandchildren or pet dog could be seriously hurt after a steel-tipped foot long arrow was shot into the garden where they play. The incident is the latest in a spate of ant-social behaviour blighting the home of the man and his partner, who wish to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. In another incident at their ...

Police are investigating after a cash machine was ripped from a shop wall using farm machinery. Officers were called to reports of the cash machine being attacked at 2.26am today (May 24) at the Co-op, Sutton Bridge. When they arrived at the scene the cash machine had been stolen by thieves using a teleporter, which had been abandoned. Two further ...

Child sex abuser John Edward Bates was handed a 20-year jail sentence on Friday.(May 20)  The former Lincolnshire police officer and Spalding scout leader was convicted on Thursday of 16 charges of indecent assault and two charges of indecency with a child, dating back to the 1970s and 1980s. Judge Simon Hirst told Bates: “You were entrusted with the welfare of these complainants ...

South Holland District Council members have turned down a second premises licence application for Spalding in quick succession. Councillors rejected Ernesta Tamutyte’s bid to sell alcohol at Global Foods in Winsover Road after she admitted signing false entries in the shop’s refusals register. Lincolnshire Police claimed that Miss Tamutyte, of Hallgate, Moulton, was involved in the distribution of smuggled goods. ...

A national child welfare charity has urged victims of child abuse to come forward following the conviction of a former police officer and Spalding scout leader. The National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children says it hopes the guilty verdict for John Edward Bates at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday (May 19) sends out a clear message to other ...

A former Lincolnshire Police officer is facing a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of a series of historic sexual assaults on four young boys. John Edward Bates, who met his victims through his role as a scout leader at Wittering and Spalding during the 1970s and 1980s, was found guilty by the jury at Lincoln Crown Court of 16 charges ...

Fake £20 notes have tried to be passed at Springfields Outlet Shopping in Spalding in recent weeks. Police are warning residents and businesses in Spalding about the situation. A spokesman said: “A number of incidents have been reported at the Springfield shopping centre over the last few weeks. “Please be vigilant and check all notes for authenticity. If in doubt, call 101 ...

A row between two women in Gedney Hill on Tuesday (May 17) included an alleged assault. It happened outside the McColl’s shop in Hillgate between 9am and 9.30am. Police are appealing for witnesses. Contact PC Lewis Putman at Spalding Police Station by dialling 101 and quoting incident number 74 of May 17.

A former Lincolnshire police officer has today (Tuesday) denied carrying out a string sexual offences against boys. John Edward Bates denies offences against four youngsters in the 1970s and 1980s when he was a scout leader in South Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. Bates (68), who faces a total of 22 charges, denies the matters and says the incidents never happened. The ...

A drug dealer who left the country instead of turning up for a court hearing has escaped an immediate jail sentence after a court heard he is terminally ill. Campbell Weir was found to have the drug M Cat when he was stopped by police in Spalding. He had been due to appear before Lincoln Crown Court for sentence in February ...

A former scout has told a jury that he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by an ex-Lincolnshire police officer. The complainant, now in his 40s, told the jury at Lincoln Crown Court that John Edward Bates abused him over a six-year period. Bates, who at the time was a scout leader in Spalding, is currently on trial facing 22 charges involving four ...

The president of the AA says the high percentage of drink-drivers in and around South Holland being foreign nationals might be due to them not being aware of British laws. Current data shows that about one in three offenders is an immigrant. Edmund King said: “We know that the drink-driving laws are very well understood by UK citizens because of ...

Spalding Police are asking for information on the wheareabouts of this man. Court warrants have been issued  for the arrest of Thomas Parr (18), who is from the Spalding area. Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Alastair Pullen, at Spalding Police Station, by calling 101.

A former Spalding scout leader carried out a series of sex attacks on boys, a jury at Lincoln Crown Court has been told. John Edward Bates, who is also a former Lincolnshire Police officer, is alleged to have committed offences against four youngsters in the 1970s and 1980s when he was a scout leader in South Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. Bates, who ...